Kingly foundations . . .

Today marks that most unAmerican of days in the Christian calendar, the day we call Christ the King Sunday. Christ the King Sunday marks the last day in the liturgical year—next week we will be celebrating Advent—and it reminds us of the governance we can expect when our Lord returns. It is quintessentially unAmerican because it describes the King. We tend to think democracy is the best kind of government. How do we call rectors? We vote on Search Committees and Vestries. How do we call bishops? We vote in two orders, lay and clergy by diocese. How do we call Presiding Bishops? We vote by orders, bishops and delegates, both of which are sent by participating dioceses. Our church functions similarly to the way our country does, which is not surprising given that many founders were also members of the Church of England and, later, the Episcopal church. And yet we proclaim that one day, one glorious day in the future, our Lord will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. We won’t gather in heaven and vote on what we will be doing. Our Lord will tell us. And so today becomes a day that can kind of stick in our own craw when we celebrate it; worse, if not explained properly to those outside the church, it can serve to repulse them.

For background of discussions today, I wanted to look at the passage from Ezekiel. The passage before our reading today reminds us of the relationship between Israel and God. When Israel is freed from slavery in Egypt, God goes with them. God goes with them in a real, if not entirely tangible, way. He provides the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day. Once they have journeyed to the appointed place, God instructs Moses and the elders how to build His Tabernacle. From that point forward, whenever Moses must speak with God, the cloud will descend into the Tabernacle to converse with Moses. It was a special position for Israel. God really was in the midst of them, in His dwelling-place. He was their God, and they were His people.

But what happens? Over time, Israel begins to think of itself as not like the other nations of the world. They look around and notice these other nations with kings. They ask the prophet Samuel to ask God for a king. Samuel, of course, is upset by this request. God reminds Samuel that it is He that is being rejected and to do as they ask. So, Israel votes on a king to replace God. Despite God’s warnings about human kings, Saul is elected by the people and anointed by Samuel. Over time, as God predicted, Saul refuses to obey God or even seek His advice. Worse, and this is really where Saul differs from David, Saul is unwilling to repent of his sins. Saul is unwilling to yield his desires, his wants, to the commands and expectations of the Lord.

If you have ever spent any time studying the books of Samuel or Chronicles or Kings, you know that very few of those kings that followed earned the praise of God. David is a king after God’s own heart. He sins, big; but he always repents of his sins. Solomon does a pretty good job, until he marries the foreign women who lead him from the wisdom and worship of God into idolatry. Josiah is unique in that he is praised and given a long rule. Most of those who follow in the lineage of David, though, do far worse than their fathers. Time and time again, Scripture describes the rule of the kings as abhorrent to God. Time and time again they do far worse than their fathers and grandfathers.

Fast forward to our reading from Ezekiel today. In the passage just before our reading today, the shepherds are devouring the choicest lambs. The shepherds are supposed to be taking care of the flock, but they prey on those whom God has charged them to lead. God declares that He will hold the shepherds accountable for the flock. Then He makes the claim we read today. He will pastor His flock. He will care for His sheep. He will be their God; they will be His people. Can you imagine the significance of what God is saying? How many times do we wonder if He cares? How many times do we listen to the whispers of His Enemy and believe that we are beneath His notice? How many times do we choose to sin, fully aware that it is, hoping He is like an inattentive parent who will not notice or be too busy to think it is really bad? Yet His judgement in the passage right before this reminds us that He pays attention to the littlest of the lambs in His flock. Put in the language of Matthew 25, what the shepherds do to the lambs they do to Him!

Christ the King Sunday reminds us that one day, all this inattention, all this preying on us by the shepherds, all the droughts and diseases, all these consequences of rejecting Him as King will come to an end. One day, one glorious day in the future, we will celebrate the fact that God is truly dwelling among us. He will be our God; we will be His people. We won’t have to vote because He will rule us. We won’t have to worry because He will be providing for us. He will be the Host. He will be the Groom. He will be the Waiter. We will be the bride and the guest at the Wedding Feast. It’s amazing imagery to be sure. But how do we convince modern Americans this is what they want? How do we convince the rest of the world that sometimes risks life and limb to make their way to our shores that democracy falls short of the kingship promised by the Lord?

As you all know, I was in Rome at the beginning of the month. The idea for this sermon popped into my head while I was there. As those of you who follow me on Facebook know, a lot of money was spent on our recent elections. I think nearly $75 million was spent on just our Senate race in Iowa. It seems like at least that much was spent on the Illinois House race. That last week in October saw increased political ads for the less important spots. The most wonderful part of Rome, as you have now figured out, was the blessed absence of political commercials. Yes, a television could be on or a radio could be on, and there was no Joni Ernst/Bruce Braley/Cheri Busto/Bobby Schilling advertisements to be heard. Can you imagine the peace? Can you imagine the happiness? You are laughing but only because you have not had to hear one of their advertisements for the last two weeks. Think how good this would have sounded before the election. Now add in all those other advertisements. You get an idea of the bliss promised us by our Lord.

All kidding aside, how long do you think it will be until we are disappointed by one of those whom we elected? How many days or weeks do you think it will be until you find out the position upon which they ran has shifted like sand? If a priest shows up here in February claiming that a politicians lied, will you be surprised? Or will you just assume he or she opened their mouth? It sounds cynical, but don’t we understand what God is saying in Ezekiel 34? Those who are charged with protecting us prey upon us? Those who are supposed to make it possible for us to pursue life, liberty, and happiness are willing to trample us and our rights to get theirs. What we offer, part of the Gospel, is that the Lord will dwell among us, that He will be our God and we will be His people! There will be no democracy. There will be no campaigning. There will be no weak preyed upon by the strong. The Shepherd will not be devouring His flock. He will be lovingly, tenderly, justly caring for His flock, from the littlest lamb to the oldest ram and all the sheep in between.

Unless you think this is only a long-dreamed-for event in our country, I got a view of some who desire it in Rome. While I was out and about in Rome, I ran into a cardinal in full regalia. He was actually on the other side of the street when I first noticed him, but he made it across the street before I could get passed him. I noticed he was passing out coins, laying hands and praying for others, and simply talking with still others. People were clutching at his cassock which, truth be told, seemed a brave event. It looked like a very well tailored cassock with nice think threads marking his position. When he crossed the road, he asked me about my green clergy shirt in perfect English, wanting to know my obscure order. I told him I was an Episcopal priest in Rome working against human trafficking. He held up a hand and offered me what sounded like an Italian blessing—I say sound like because he eventually got to the “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” as he made the sign of the cross.

When I made it back to the dorm that night for evening meal, I asked a friend I had made among the Roman Catholics what I had seen. He asked me where I was, then he told me I had simply seen Cardinal “So and so” campaigning. Like you, I was a bit taken aback. Campaigning for what? I wondered. Another Vatican official answered, as my friend was drinking his wine. “to be the next Pope.” It was then explained to me that some Cardinals make quite the show of being out and among their people in Rome, trying to win the support of the people. The problem with the Cardinal that I had met, he went on to say, was that he misunderstood what made Francis so popular. Francis did not do ministry, so far as he could tell, for public accolades. In fact, he went on, His Holiness is rumored to give their version of the Secret Service fits by slipping out in “regular clothes.” Both men wondered whether Francis was the first ever to give up the site cassock voluntarily. Of course, both had to be somewhat circumspect in their criticism. Both acknowledged that the Cardinal I had met might one day succeed the Holy Father.

While I can tell you the substance of our conversation, I cannot relate to you the tone in their voice. Both men are part of the Vatican machinery. Everyone who stayed in the dorm where I stayed is at least a midlevel Vatican official. Both men enjoyed the fact that Francis sneaks out to serve people. While they were sympathetic to the plight of the new Security Chief, both thought Francis’ willingness to be among the people was great for the Church. He was really trying to earn the mantle of St. Peter by being a servant of all. To them, Francis was a fresh wind blowing. And the Cardinal I had met represented the stale, putrid air of old. When I asked them why they were so critical of the Cardinal, thinking maybe he was really like Francis, both informed me that the Cardinal in question had no history of such activities in his home country. When he is in Rome, this is how he acts; when he is home, he is more a prince of the Church. Ouch.

Like us, our Italian brothers long for those who serve. Like us, our Italian brothers are energized by the thought that someone who seems to be a true disciple of Jesus could be named Pope. Like us, they have been so disappointed by men who have devoured the flocks, they have become cynical. Like us, they long to work with and for those whose hearts have been transformed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Like us, they long for that day when God will truly be Emmanuel, God with us!

My last conversation about how Christ the King Sunday speaks to us today was from a teenager from outside the parish. A local school brought kids in their religion to church see our worship space and to ask me questions. Let me tell you what, we need to keep our youth pastors in our prayers! Those who deal with teenagers have a special ministry on behalf of the Church. Anyway, this one youth asked me how many Christian denominations there were in the world. When I answered that it was hard to tell, but somewhere in the 30-40,000 range for denominations, everyone looked like they had misheard me. The instructor, trying to clarify things for me, said that the youth wanted to know how many denominations existed in the world. I laughed and told them I understood the question. There were, really somewhere around 35,000 denominations in the world. As everybody murmured and tried to decide whether I was right, the youth popped off “You guys sure don’t act like you believe Jesus was the Son of God.” When I asked why, he responded that if Jesus was the Son of God, you would think we would do a better job of staying one, just as Jesus said He and the Father were One. Ouch.

The instructor sought to intervene, but I thought the question fair and said the same. It was such a great question this week that I spelled it out for his classmates. One of the great prayers of Jesus is that we would be one as He and the Father are One. That is why divisions in the church are to be avoided. In our song, The Church’s One Foundation, that we sing from time to time, the robe of the Bride is distressed by heresies and torn by schisms. I laughed. When he asked the question, the youth had no idea about Christ the King Sunday. He had no idea that we Christians are supposed to long for hearts and minds of God. But do we really? Do we really want His heart, His eyes, His everything to lead us? Or would we rather keep Him at a bit of a distance from our hearts? Every time we are moved to divide, every time we are moved to split from one another, our testimony to the world is that our system of worship, our way of governing ourselves, and even our way “doing theology” is more important than our way of expressing the Gospel in our lives. Our One Foundation has become in many places anything but the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And yes, the world notices. Even youths not yet in our church know that our fights dishonor our Lord and King. And still we fight.

Brothers and sisters, this day reminds each one of us that we are called to serve The Lord and The King. Sometimes our political situation or religious contexts or even our upbringing can cause us to forget this wonderful truth. Next week, we will begin the new year and the season of Advent. We will remind ourselves that, just as the Babe lying in a manger can to us, so will our Savior return to dwell with us. One day, one expectant day in the future, He will come. One Day, one expectant day in the future, He will come to live among us from that day forward and forever more. On that day, the wolves will have been cast out of the sheepfold, the bad shepherds removed from their responsibility, and those who have been victimized will be restored. On that wonderful Day, we will be able to burn the ballot boxes, cast aside our divisions like so many bad memories, and live in Unity with the One who died that we might all be One in Him. That is why we remember this day that Christ is truly King!

Peace,



Brian†

The Voice of Truth amid the cacophony of lies . . .

One of the downfalls about trying to keep a blog is that you can look back and begin to read some of what you have preached. As I was looking back this week, in anticipation of this week’s readings, I have only ever preached on the parable of the talents from Matthew in the past. It is a great story, to be sure, but I sure would have thought that at one point or another I would have preached on Judges, or Thessalonians, or Zephaniah, or maybe the psalm! I’ll trust that in those prior sermons I did not bore you to death; better still, I will assumed that I covered everything that I needed to with respect to preaching and teaching on that parable.

This year, I wanted to look at Paul’s first letter to the church at Thessalonica. That is not to say I do not think Judges is not worth our time together. In fact, you all do a pretty good job of honoring several of the teachings from Judges 4. The most obvious lesson of the Old Testament passage is that God can use anyone, male or female, to accomplish His purposes. I know you all have heard it repeated over and over again that women were ill treated in the ANE, that they were little better than property because of this “God the Father” nonsense. As I have pointed out several times over these eight years, people may well have sinned in how they applied Scriptures to the lives of those worshipping, but God did not. Put differently, the teaching of the Bible is not at fault; the fault lies with those interpreting and enforcing. if women were ground down by the power of those in authority, it was because those in authority were misusing God’s word. Deborah provides yet another example that God can and does work through anyone. Deborah was a judge over Israel, a wife, and a prophet. Talk about multi-tasking! Although she is actually fulfilling her role as prophet, she even gives military advice to Barak! Next time, ladies, you hear any nonsense about you not being equipped for ministry, feel free to use Deborah, or Sarah, or Ruth, or Esther, or Hannah, or any of those other strong-willed ladies in the OT as your inspiration!

No, given the anxieties in the world, I thought we should spend some time with Paul in Thessalonica this week. Thessalonica, in case you did not know, is on the Aegean side of the Greek peninsula. It’s near the very northern part of the bay, not too far south from modern day Bulgaria, which meant it got to collect tolls on goods being shipped between Rome and Byzantium and on goods being shipped down the road from the Danube area to be sold throughout the Empire via the port. In its heydey, Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia, which makes sense since it was named for a daughter of Philip and sister of Alexander! It’s import also shows why the Holy Spirit pushed and prodded Paul into this area to preach the Gospel for about three weeks (Acts 17). As we read Paul’s letter today, we might not understand the details, but we sure ought to hear the message. Among its other traits, Thessalonica worshipped Dionysus. Yes, that means they drank a lot of wine and engaged in a number of orgies. We might think of it as a kind of fantasy land for George, except that he likes beer and loves Annette! When you hear or read Paul telling the Christians to stay a wake, or stay sober, or remember they are light, you now know why!

Paul’s message to them is rather simple. They should not be surprised by the return of our Lord Christ. Though others will be surprised at His return, the Christians at Thessalonica are not at all at risk of being destroyed. Christ has taught them that He will return like a thief in the night, like a woman going into labor suddenly. They have heard His message and are preparing themselves. Paul tells them simply to continue to encourage one another just as they already doing. Why? Because the world around them testifies to them that they are nuts for believing in a resurrected Christ. In many ways, our world testifies just as loudly to us that we are foolish for believing that our faith will serve us well.

I found myself on the plane from Brussels in the middle of one of those testimonies. As you all know, a collar either causes people to really open up or to really clam up. As we were settling in to our seats, everyone in my area was introducing themselves to one another. The guy behind me introduced himself as Dr. Soinso. Everyone had figured out my profession, though the green shirt gave them pause. Anyway, as we were waiting for the doors to the cabin to close, several of us were standing, avoiding sitting for any more than the next 9 hours and change we were going to have to sit on the way to Chicago. I asked the doctor where he had been, wondering whether he was on a business or leisure trip. I had to laugh internally as he said “Liberia.” I asked if he had been working with Doctors without Borders. He answered yes and asked if I was going to freak out. When I told him no, he was both curious and relived. He thought the press in the United States had done a great job of sensationalizing the disease and figured we were all scared of Ebola. I told him I had asked some medical professionals whether I should worry about air travel to and from the Vatican. Everyone had told me that our nutrition, our healthcare, and even our sanitation helped us fight the disease in the West. I got the old eye roll and “you have no idea” for a response. The doctor described conditions where he had been working. Needless to say, they were a bit worse than some of our bad neighborhoods. The doctor went on to explain that only about 6000 people had died from Ebola (hard numbers are tough to get because some governments want to downplay its impact while others increase its impact). While that number was important to everyone who had died and their respective families, in the grand scheme of worldwide plagues, it fell rather short.

As we were talking, a lady excused herself down the aisle, put her things in the overhead compartment, and sat down in the empty seat on the aisle. At this break in the conversation, she told us her name. I asked what she did for a living. She was a bit startled to be asked, and I realized I could be seen as “creepy priest,” so I shared our occupations and made introductions. When I got to the good doctor, she got really upset. For a minute or two she lamented her luck and convinced herself and all of us that we were going to catch ebola and die. The doctor asked her again what she did for a living, and she told us she was a nurse. Doc was not happy about this revelation and her response. They proceeded to have quite the medical jargon conversation for the next four or five minutes. Those of us who were not doctors looked at each other and shrugged, especially as her anxiety lessened. Eventually, the fact that he had had nine negative blood tests over the two-and-a-half days he had been getting ready to leave seemed to really make a difference in her mind. Then she laughed and said that she had embarrassed nurses everywhere. Everyone else seemed calm about it, and here she was freaking out a bit. Small talk continued until the fasten seatbelt light came on and the pilot told us it was time to make ready for departure.

During the long flight, of course, different conversations continued. The nurse engaged me about her faith upbringing and asked where I was going and coming from. When I shared, she played twenty questions about human trafficking. I answered more questions than she expected, and she seemed quite impressed that a sister had taken time not only to do an MNS on the subject, but to teach her priest a bit. Eventually, after some light discussions, she wanted to get back to something the doctor had said about the priest “accepting the news calmly and without overreacting.” Did I not understand the danger posed by the disease? I shared with her my elementary understanding. Then we began the real conversation of faith. What does it mean to possess the peace that passes all understanding? How can we calmly face situations where others fear to go? How can we labor on and on and on knowing that most could care less and mock us? I reminded her of some of her Sunday School lessons as a child; I also explored some adult experiences she had had which tempered some of her childhood education. In the end, she accepted that I really believe Jesus Christ will come again and claim me as His own. “You’d probably be a crappy priest if you didn’t, huh?” I still might be, but I knew what she meant. So, we talked about the Christian response to the plague in Rome (despite persecutions) and to other diseases over time. It seem to hit her in a spot she had not considered. “What kind of people would risk death for people who persecuted or ostracized them?” People who follow a Lord named Jesus, a Lord who bore persecution and humiliation and even death for us.

While the world continues to struggle with diseases, questions of provision assault the faiths of those who claim the mantle of Christian. Perhaps Nicole and I thought ourselves the only one going through that struggle this week, along with spouses Jason and Karen, but that is a theme rocking our country. How many people do we meet through Community Meal or SmartChoice that can no longer support themselves without help? How many people are working at jobs far below that for which they were trained or educated? How many people in this great nation are a case of Ebola away from bankruptcy or the streets? We live in a culture which tempts us into believing that we know we are loved when we have what we want. If you own the four bedroom, two car garage yuppie home, God must not be too upset with you. If you live in the gated community and can eat what you want when you want and do what you want when you want, well you must be one of His favorites. It is a subtle lie, but we come to accept its truth, do we not? And we know it is a lie. He has told us it is a lie. He has lived a life that showed us it is a lie.

Speaking of us, we in the Church do a good job of testifying against our own message and confusing those among us or not yet a part of us. Sometimes we lend our voice to the cacophony preaching against us. While the world has been busy hammering us over questions of provision and questions of health, our own church has been working hard to steer us from our God-given responsibilities. Some of you have asked this week about the goings-on at the National Cathedral. For those of you out of the loop, the National Cathedral, which is supposed to be an Episcopal Church, invited Muslims in to hold a Muslim prayer service. Cries of “what’s the big deal? We worship the same God” have flown on social media in regards to this event. More amazingly to me, women clergy have been incredibly supportive of this action. And we wonder why people have quit coming to our churches. We wonder why our faith, which has informed Presidents and Senators and members of the House of Representatives in the history of this country, has shrunk to numbers that are below the margin of error in religious polls.

Understand, we live in America and Muslim-Americans have every right to worship Allah as they see fit. I have no problem with it. I have no problem with Hindus holding their own worship services, Buddhists holding their own meditative initiatives, Jews going to synagogues, or even atheists choosing not to go to church. As American citizens we all have that right. As members of the Church, however, as members of that mystical Body that will become His Bride, you and I have a different obligation. The God to whom Muslims pray is not the God to Whom we pray. Either Jesus was right and Mohammed was wrong, or Muhammed was correct and Jesus was wrong. There is no middle ground. Sure, we can be peaceful towards one another, we can be supportive of each other’s spiritual efforts, but we are proclaiming fundamentally different messages. We proclaim that Jesus was the Messiah, that He died for our sins, that He rose victorious over the grave, and that He will return again, just as Paul reminds us this morning. Muslims believe that Jesus blasphemed God by declaring Himself the Son of God and so died a cursed death. Worse, they believe that His bones are still in some as yet undiscovered tomb. They believe that Mohammed is the prophet of Allah. And they pilgrimage to his tomb, where they know his body is. They believe a number of things which are untenable in our faith.

One of those fundamental differences is how we treat women. I understand that the Church has often literally and figuratively beat women down. I get it. But I am confident that all of us gathered here understand that women and men were both created in the image of God, that God has worked through the faith of women, such as Deborah, and men to accomplish His purposes for salvation, and that neither of us is more inherently sinful because of our gender. At no time does Scripture call women to repent of being women and men just for being men. It is our thoughts and actions which separate us from God which cause us to need to repent. And for all the faults of our beloved denomination, one thing I think we can all agree on is that we lift up the ministry of men and women well. Look around you. Do you diminish the ministry of those sitting next to you or across from you because they are a particular gender? Do you think that the sacramental ministry of St. Alban’s was negatively impacted because Dick or I were men or Kathleen was a woman? Has the church been ill-served just because our Presiding Bishop happens to be a woman? Even those of us who have disappointed by some of her statements, such as her sermon about slavery being good in South America, are we not taking issue with her theology or understanding rather than her gender? Have you not had those same questions and discussions with Bishop Scarfe? Bishop Epting before him? Bishop Righter before him?

How we view women has what has made me so disappointed that many women clergy have been vocal proponents of the Muslim prayer service held in the National Cathedral. If they share our understanding of how we lift up their ministry, how can they be so supportive of those who practice a religion which does not lift up women? If they serve a God who became human, who rose from the dead, and who promises to return, how can they be accepting of a competing message within our own sacred space? If they are truly trying to shepherd God’s people toward His kingdom, and if they understand that journey is made possible through Christ’s work on the Cross, how can they enthusiastically support a religion that claims theirs is false? How can they proclaim that the path to God really does not matter? Really, can you imagine the fallout if we re-proposed that women’s ministry does not matter, that how we treat women is really unimportant, that we are going to call ourselves Christian but treat women under the Muslim code of ethics? Yet that is precisely the confusing message they are sending by having supported this particular service. And we, like the people in Thessalonica, are supposed to know the Truth, to be heralds of His Gospel, to be not at all surprised by His Return!

Brothers and sisters, there is a cacophony of voices trying to convince you that you do not matter, that God does not exist, that you should be worried. Against that noisy chattering speaks that voice of love, that voice of truth, that voice of promise. You were bought at a price! You are promised salvation! Whether you experience disease or health, poverty or riches, transition or certainty, or even death or life, nothing, no single thing, can keep you from Him. Protected by the helm of that knowledge, and sent forth in His breastplate of loving service, you are fit to face the cares and concerns of those whom you meet in life. You may not know the answer to all their problems, but you know the God who does! Intimately. All you need to do is to keep doing what you have been doing: worshipping, serving, loving, and praying. When He finally returns, you know, you know, His words will be the words of the Master to the faithful servant in our Gospel lesson today; and we will each enter into that blessed life to which He has called us for all eternity.




Peace,



Brian†